You can find five-spice powder, the Chinese-inspired combination of star anise, fennel, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and cloves, at many supermarkets. We really like the fresh intensity and balance of the five-spice powder from World Spice.

Try chef Rene Ortiz’s Ginger-Garlic Tofu with his addictive broccolini. A generous dose of red pepper flakes, a good hunk of butter, and a big squeeze of lemon transform them. “The fat, the butter, the acid,” says Ortiz, chef at Sway, Austin: “It makes you want to keep going back for more.”